Born four months early and weighing just 1 pound, 5 ounces, it was no surprise to Roman Albright’s family that he would need specialized treatment in CHKD’s neonatal intensive care unit. In fact, after his mom’s water broke at 18 weeks, doctors did not expect Roman to survive.
But his parents, Adrianne and Kenny, prayed for a miracle and Roman arrived by emergency C-section at 24 weeks.
In CHKD’s NICU, Roman faced many challenges. His lungs were very weak, and he developed retinopathy of prematurity, a potentially blinding eye disease that happens to premature babies when abnormal blood vessels grow into the retina.
“I couldn’t tell you how many times I sat in our NICU room and cried because I was overwhelmed and I didn’t know what was going to happen,” says Adrianne. “He was really sick.”
Roman needed supplemental oxygen to help him breathe, and he underwent two eye surgeries during his stay at CHKD. But every day, he got stronger.
After 108 days – and just four days before his due date – Roman was able to go home. He spent three more months on oxygen and had two more eye surgeries after leaving the NICU.
Today, Roman is an energetic toddler who loves animals and knock-knock jokes. He has been in physical, occupational, feeding, and speech therapies, and wears glasses to help with his vision loss.
“As a military family, we could have been anywhere. We are just so happy that we were here,” says Adrianne. “We will forever love CHKD.”
Written by CHKD Marketing • Photograph by Susan Lowe
